Teaching materials "Teach-Share"

Here you will find ready-to-use materials that teachers around the world use in school for the European Day of Languages. You might need to adapt them to fit your needs (e.g. change language). We would be happy to add your ideas/ materials/ adaptation of existing documents here! For ideas on what can be done on the European Day of Languages, please see the "examples of school activities" below.

Materials and examples of activities

Each person is unique! Yet - in reading the book 'All kinds of People' the pupils are surprised when they notice that differences in languages can point out differences in culture. The pupils grow in self confidence and mutual respect! The book is for children, the activity presented is for the teachers. Email for the book: www.aede-fr.org

Through a series of language activities within the context of the EDL, primary school students become aware of the importance of (autonomous) foreign language learning, as well as of their 'European' self.

The guide looks at loanwords and borrowings in English. Some of these loanwords have come from distant lands and ancient tongues (Latin, Greek, Hindi, French, German etc), but others have been introduced into the language from sources much closer to home – Wales, for example. Who’d have thought that words like balderdash, cardigan, gull, bard and car are all originally Welsh words?

English speakers are often criticised for being notoriously bad at learning other languages. But have centuries of borrowing and assimilating words from different languages and cultures ensured a smoother path to learning other tongues? In fact, could knowing English actually help you become a linguistic genius?

A fun way of showing how different/similar languages
are. Various examples of the onomatopoeia of animal sounds in different
languages. Each card is written in a different language that students
can try to recognize.

Compare idioms used in different languages. Based
on an English idiom, several examples are shown on how the same is said
in various other languages including Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch,
Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Macedonian, Norwegian,
Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Spanish, Turkish
and Welsh. Feel free to send us an interesting version of these idioms
in any other language. Send to information@ecml.at.

Students are given a flag of a European country, and they have to look for different expressions of the language spoken in that country. They share it in class, and we make a big poster where every flag and messages in their tongues are shown.
Later, we have a contest to find out the ways to say "hello" in all the chosen languages. Everyone can participate!

Second grade pupils prepared different cards in which they wrote greetings and messages about themselves. After this artistic part, they got ready to go outside and share them with the people on the street telling them about the European Day of Languages.

GAME:" Let's play with languages" (Some of the students in each class will wear a special T-shirt which indicates the language they will speak all morning long- they will not be allowed to speak their native language- the best will be awarded)
DECORATIONS: There will be decorations, flags, posters and balloons all over the school.
MAKE UP: the students will have nails, hair and skin painted in the colors of the flags representing the language they like best.

Rewards: Best students will receive personalized materials with European Day of Languages

For our activity during the European Day of Languages we used trees and plants for teaching the children words in 5 different languages. At the same time we gave them a small glossary with basic words in Spanish, Italia, German, Finish and Lithuanian.

Examples of school activities

These are some samples of school activities that were done in schools for the European Day of Languages! You should get some ideas on how you could organise a whole day/moring/afternoon.

Older students prepare English (or any other language)
lessons for younger students

all languages, description
in English

4

HOUR

6-16 y

During the first two periods, Year 8 students prepare
and organize short English lessons of 15 minutes each for Year 1 students.
There are 12 work stations in all. They not only plan and teach the lessons,
they also take over parts of the organization and timekeeping and emcee
the opening and closing ceremonies. After the two periods of preparation
Year 8 students pick up Year 1 students from their classrooms and the
fun begins.

District Language Day - valuing all languages spoken
in a city district

English, German

3

HOURS

6-14 y

„I can speak Armenian!“ „I can speak Hungarian!“
„ I can speak Russian!“ Primary school children of the third
district of Vienna exchange languages. For some of them it is a new
experience. All of a sudden their first language, ignored so far, is
appreciated. The „Landstraßer Sprachentag“ made it
possible.